Oakville Zen Meditation

#53.The search for the OX in 10 pictures June 2015

The Ten Oxherding Pictures which relate back to a Zen master in the Sung dynasty China (1126-1279 AD), have spiritual roots in the very early Zen Buddhist texts ~ 560 BCE . They provide useful imagery of one of our illusions  – our mind cannot be controlled-  must and can be negated before a seeker of truth like us can experience enlightenment. The ox symbolize our elusive mind and the herder symbolizes the seeker that is us. A graphic designer, Hor Tuck Loon has given these pictures a contemporary treatment. This is a wonderful “comic book” describing very well what meditation is all about: taming the ox i.e. our thoughts & mind. The 10 pictures describe the step wise process before achieving the control of our Mind in the quest for Enlightenment ( Awakening ).

 

 

OX11:  The Self is faintly intuited, like sensing the presence of the Ox, and the journey begins.

 

 

 

 

 

OX22: Like finding a few hoof marks of the Ox, traces of the teachings of the path are found.

 

 

 

 

 

 

OX33: The Ox is glimpsed, as one comes to see that the Self is beyond the personality self.

 

 

 

 

 

OX44: The Ox has been caught hold of, and the pursuit of the Self is now firmly practiced

 

 

 

 

 

 

OX55: The Ox is tamed, as the mind is tamed,   while staying focused on finding the Self.

 

 

 

 

 

 

OX66: The Ox is ridden, as the mind is mastered, becoming   a friend on the inner journey to True Self.

 

 

 

 

 

OX77: The Ox is left aside, as the Seeker rests in the stillness of the inner chamber.

 

 

 

 

 

 

OX88 : Both Ox and Seeker are forgotten, allowing the  individual self to rest in the True Self.

 

 

 

 

 

 

OX99: Ox and Seeker merge into emptiness, wholeness, beingness; the absolute Truth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

OX1010: The Realized returns to the marketplace of life, living in the world, yet in the Self